For those interested in a broader public policy discussion than has been permitted by our political 'leaders' thus far, the NDP nomination of journalist Linda McQuaig yesterday in Toronto Centre, Bob Rae's old riding, is an auspicious beginning. No stranger to progressives, McQuaig has exposed the iniquities of gross income inequality in her writing for many years, trenchantly challenging the increasingly obdurate notion that nothing can be done about the ever-widening gap between those who have and those who do not.
While it is still anyone's guess as to when Stephen Harper will call the byelection for the riding, without question we can expect a vigorous debate on the important issues, especially given that another journalist, Chrystia Freeland, received the Liberal Party nod. While the leaders of their respective parties have hewed to either a very close-mouthed or conventional approach to the economic questions that plague our country, given what I know about Ms. McQuaig, the byelection campaign will see these issues front and centre, and I strongly doubt that McQuiag will be happy to utter the conservative platitudes that Thomas Mulcair has recently been given to uttering.
Are we entering a new era of exciting and dynamic politics? Having one knowledgeable, passionate and outspoken candidate will not likely change the political landscape, but at the very least, it is a hopeful beginning.
Toronto Centre could become the centre of political debate in this country, Lorne. We shall have to see if these ladies are as good on their feet as they are on paper.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I can't speak for Freeland, Owen, I have seen McQuaig speak publicly several times, and she always acquits herself well and with grace, no matter the questions posed to her.
DeleteWhile I genuinely welcome the [prospect of Linda McQuag taking her progressive views into an even larger venue (assuming she were to be elected), I fear her talents, and progressivism in general, will be wasted in the NDP as long as Mulcair is at the helm. He's made it no secret that he wants to steer the party into the mushy middle in the hope of making it more attractive to neo-liberal political elements (which is exactly what would guarantee the NDP's destruction as a strong, viable, and progressive democratic socialist alternative to what is available to Canadians). Mulcair has done little or nothing to draw up a strong party platform, and he has squandered much, if not all, of the tremendous momentum the party gained from the last election prior to Jack Layton's death -- especially in Quebec, which could potentially re-invigorate the federal Liberals now that they have a youthful, dynamic, high profile leader in Justin Trudeau.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying this to piss off NDP'ers as I'm a long-time voter and supporter of the party, and I'm not saying it to piss off Liberals (although I do think the Liberal Party needs to take a stronger tack to the left than it has been over the past several years. It's just that a strong, progressive alternative has never been put forward in Canada without the old "socialism = communism" bugaboo being trotted out like clockwork, but it's kind of like a criticism that I've leveled at some museums and planetariums in the past "If you can't find a way to make science interesting, don't blame the Universe". Several Scandinavian countries of operated political and economic systems much more progressive than Canada and have thrived doing so, although, unfortunately, ultra-conservative extremists have been making gains in some of them recently. Canada and Canadians need to be roused to the very real threats that Harper's undemocratic, corporatist, neo-con cabal pose to our country and it's future. They also need to be shown that free market, neo-liberal policies and economics are a back door for corporatism, and that centrists like Mulcair are doing no one, except the Suits on Bay Street, any favours by espousing them...
N.
Well-stated, Neil. I share your reservations about Mulcair's leadership, but at the same time I hope that someone like McQuaig, if elected, will not let the NDP forget its importance as a viable alternative to the corporatist agenda that seems to be embraced by the other two main parties.
DeleteHer presence, ideas and intelligent and passionate articulation of the progressive agenda can't help but invigorate political discourse in this country.